About the Bennings

Amalgamated Sugar Company

Founded in 1898 the Amalgamated Sugar Company is the second largest sugar-beet processor in the United States. The company currently produces 1.8 billion pounds of sugar each year. Today, the company produces more sugar in a 10-hour period than it did during its entire first year of operation. In 1982 Amalgamated was purchased by Harold Simmons of Dallas, Texas and then sold again in 1997 to a group of beet growers where it became a farmer-owned cooperative. The headquarters were moved from Ogden, Utah, to Boise, Idaho, in 2005.

H. A. Benning 1879–1962

The driving force behind Amalgamated’s operational growth was the Benning family. H.A. Benning was born in 1879 in Lyons, New York. Benning began his career in the sugar-beet industry in 1900 at a sugar factory in his home town. Over the course of his career Benning worked for the Eastern Sugar Company, the Great Western Sugar Company, and the Holly Sugar Corporation. In 1929 he was named vice president of the Amalgamated Sugar Company. He was named company president in 1941 and remained in that position until his death in 1962.

Determined to make Amalgamated the best in the business, H.A. Benning built new plants in Nampa, Idaho, and Nyssa, Oregon; opened sales distribution centers in Portland and Seattle; and established Amalgamated’s retail trademark, “White Satin.”

Arthur E. Benning 1912–1990

Arthur E. Benning was raised in the sugar business. He began his career in 1932 working in his father’s Ogden factory. In 1962 he succeeded his father H.A. Benning as president. In 1976 he was elected chairman of the board of Amalgamated Sugar. He retired in 1982 after 50 years of service. Benning spent 50 years at the Ogden, Utah-based company before retiring in 1982. He died of a heart attack at age 78 in 1990. His wife, Rosemary, died in 2004.